Kanye West has been very vocal about his position on MTV’s “Hottest MCs in the Game” list. But he’s not the only one with an opinion. Kendrick Lamar is speaking out on the controversial top 10 rankings.

“It’s very important for hip-hop,” the Compton MC told Rap-Up TV on set of T.I.’s video for “Memories Back Then.” “I love that they have debates like that. We need that. It’s competitive. Even though we doing these collaborations and stuff like that and we cool, at the same time, this is still rap. It’s still competitive and I’m trying to compete with everybody to be the best.”

He embraces the debate. “When people feel like they need to make their comments, I feel that’s needed,” said K-Dot. “You’re supposed to feel like you’re the best ’cause if you don’t, you gon’ get stepped on ’cause it’s a jungle out there.”

He agreed that Kanye, who ranked at #7, deserved a higher spot. “It’s Kanye. He’s been putting in work for years.”

Find out if Kendrick takes the top spot when the full list is revealed later today.